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Prefrontal cortical function and anxiety: controlling attention to threat-related stimuli

Nature Neuroscience volume 7, pages 184–188 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Threat-related stimuli are strong competitors for attention, particularly in anxious individuals. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with healthy human volunteers to study how the processing of threat-related distractors is controlled and whether this alters as anxiety levels increase. Our work builds upon prior analyses of the cognitive control functions of lateral prefrontal cortex (lateral PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We found that rostral ACC was strongly activated by infrequent threat-related distractors, consistent with a role for this area in responding to unexpected processing conflict caused by salient emotional stimuli. Participants with higher anxiety levels showed both less rostral ACC activity overall and reduced recruitment of lateral PFC as expectancy of threat-related distractors was established. This supports the proposal that anxiety is associated with reduced top-down control over threat-related distractors. Our results suggest distinct roles for rostral ACC and lateral PFC in governing the processing of task-irrelevant, threat-related stimuli, and indicate reduced recruitment of this circuitry in anxiety.

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Figure 1: Stimuli and block trial composition.
Figure 2: Activity in rostral ACC.
Figure 3: Activity in lateral PFC.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted at the University of Cambridge Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre (WBIC) and supported by the UK Medical Research Council and a Betty Behrens Research Fellowship (Clare Hall, University of Cambridge) awarded to S.B. Our thanks go to A. Andrade for statistical assistance, to B. Cox for graphical assistance and to the radiographers at the WBIC who were involved with this project: R. Bisbrown-Chippendale, V. Lupson and T. Donovan.

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  1. Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 2EF, UK

    Sonia Bishop, John Duncan, Matthew Brett & Andrew D Lawrence

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Correspondence to Sonia Bishop.

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Bishop, S., Duncan, J., Brett, M. et al. Prefrontal cortical function and anxiety: controlling attention to threat-related stimuli. Nat Neurosci 7, 184–188 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1173

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